You'd better open a savings account at the bank near the university.

A: But I'm still wondering if you could possibly give me a discount.

A：难学，不过很有趣。

Most cities and/or states in the U.S. collect a sales tax on almost everything you buy. You must ask when you move into a new community how much the local sales tax is, and what items are and are not taxable. Both taxable items and the amount of tax vary considerably from place to place, from one or two percent in some places up to eight or ten in others. The New York City sales tax, for example, is currently 8%, so if you buy a pair of $40 shoes you will actually have to pay $43.20. This makes paying and getting correct change much more difficult (not to mention making everything more expensive). Another thing that makes money changes more complicated is tipping. The Chinese people have happily put an end to tipping, but Westerners are still plagued (遭受折磨) with this indignity. Waiters and waitresses, cab drivers, hotel bellboys, barbers and hairdressers and all sorts of other people must be tipped. Their employers give them low wages because it is expected that you, the customer, will make up the difference. If you don't, the service person can't earn a living. Tipping also varies from place to place, generally in the area of 15% of your bill (before taxes), but again you should ask local residents whom to tip and how much. There is another kind of tipping as well. You are generally expected to give something (either cash or a bottle of whisky) to the mailman at Christmas time. You should discuss this also with neighbors and friends.

Pressure Cooker (高压锅) Safety When you are cooking with a pressure cooker, you should learn a few common sense (常识) rules. 1. Never leave the cooker unwatched when it is in use. 2. Add never past the recommended fill point. Overfilling the cooker may block the vent pipe (排气孔) and cause the cooker to explode. 3. Set the cooker time. Too much time may overcook the food or too much pressure may build up in the cooker. Too little time will lead to undercooked food. 4. If you are new to pressure cooking, follow the cooking instructions carefully. Heat and time can either result in a great meal or a ruined one. 5. Never try to force a pressure cooker cover open. Allow the cooker to cool or run it under cool water before trying to open the cover. 6. Clean the cooker after each use. Mild detergent (洗涤剂) and hot water work the best. Do not use stove ash or sand for they may damage the cooker. The gasket (密封圈) is best cleaned in warm soapy water and then dried. Store the gasket in the bottom of the pot.

There was a time when, if a lady got into a crowded bus or train, a gentleman would immediately stand up and offer his seat. But now, things are different. Today a gentleman will probably look out of the window or if he feels a bit shy, hide behind his newspaper. Either way, the lady will have to stand until someone else gets off. You can't entirely blame men for this change in manners, though. Gone are the days when women could be referred to as weakers without causing trouble. A whole generation of women has grown up demanding equality with men, not just equality in jobs or education, but in social life. Hold a door open for some women and you are likely to get an angry lecture on treating women as weakers unable to open doors for themselves. Take a girl out for meal and she'll probably insist on paying her share of the bill. On second thoughts, that is perhaps not a bad idea. On one hand, it's no wonder then, that men have given up some ways of politeness and consideration which they used to show towards women. On the other hand, the man's active politeness is perhaps slowly being replaced by true consideration for the needs and feelings of women, so that men can see women as equal human beings, rather than as weakers or something that can be used to please men.

As I viewed these once familiar surroundings, images of myself as a child there came to my mind．

The old Volkswagen Beetle—'The Bug'—is making a comeback. People who own them are planning to keep them forever. People who don't own them are paying high prices when they can find one for sale. It's more remarkable when you realize that VW doesn't even make them anymore! A spokesman for Volkswagen of America says there were about five million 'Bugs' on American roads in 1977. That was the last year they were shipped to America. VW estimates that about four million of them are still running. Used car dealers say they can't keep 'Bugs' on their lots these days. They feel it's because these cars have a history of reliable, inexpensive transportation. The cars average about 30 miles per gallon of gas. But all hasn't been smooth going for the 'Bugs'. The heating system is poor. And since it travels very close to the ground, larger cars tend to splash it with winter's snow and mud. Some in the safety field consider the Beetle as defenseless against heavier cars. But the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has nothing that shows any problem with them at all.

B: The price is quite reasonable, Madam.

Congratulations on your success in the National College Entrance Examination.

'Family' is of course an elastic word. But when British people say that their society is based on family life, they are thinking of 'family' in its narrow, peculiarly European sense of mother, father and children living together alone in their own house as an economic and social unit. Thus, every British marriage indicates the beginning of a new and independent family—hence the tremendous importance of marriage in British life. For both the man and the woman, marriage means leaving one's parents and starting one's own life. The man's first duty will then be to his wife, and the wife's to her husband. He will be entirely responsible for her financial support, and she for the running of the new home. Their children will be their common responsibility and theirs alone. Neither the wife's parents nor the husband's, nor their brothers or sisters, aunts or uncles, have any right to interfere with them—they are their own masters. Readers of novels like Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice will know that in former times marriage among wealthy families were arranged by the girl's parents, that is, it was the parents duty to find a suitable husband for their daughter, preferably a rich one, and by skillful encouragement to lead him eventually to ask their permission to marry her. Until that time, the girl was protected and maintained in the parents home, and the financial relief of getting rid of her could be seen in their giving the newly married pair a sum of money called a dowry. It is very different today. Most girls of today get a job when they leave school and become financially independent before their marriage. This has had two results. A girl chooses her own husband, and she gets no dowry.

Quite a few young people nowadays have the habit of listening to background music while doing their homework.

We know that a cat, whose eyes can take in many more rays of light than our eyes, can see clearly at night.

Overhead bridges are found in many parts of Beijing, especially in places where traffic is very heavy and crossing the road is dangerous. The purpose of these bridges is to enable pedestrians (行人) to cross roads safely. Overhead bridges are used to very much the same way as zebra crossings. They are more efficient (效率高的) although less convenient because people have to climb up a long flight of steps. This is inconvenient especially to older people. When pedestrians use an overhead bridge, they do not hold up traffic. However, when they cross a busy road using a zebra crossing, traffic is held up. This is why the government has built many overhead bridges to help pedestrians and to keep traffic moving at the same time. The government of Beijing has spent a large amount of money on building these bridges. For their own safety, pedestrians should be encouraged to use them instead of risking (冒……危险) their lives by dashing across the road. Old people, however, may find it a little difficult climbing up and down the steps, but it is still much safer than walking across the road with all the danger of moving traffic. Overhead bridges serve a very useful purpose. Pedestrians, both old and young, should make it a habit to use them. This will prevent unnecessary accidents and loss of life.

长城是中国的历史文化符号之一。

Are some people born clever and other born stupid? Or is intelligence developed by our environment and our experience? Strangely enough, the answer to these questions is yes. To some extent our intelligence is given to us at birth, and no amount of special education can make a genius out of a child born with low intelligence. On the other hand, a child who lives in a boring environment will develop his intelligence less than one who lives in rich and varied surroundings. Thus the limits of a person's intelligence are fixed at birth, whether or not he reaches those limits will depend on his environment. This view, now held by most experts, can be supported in a number of ways. It is easy to show that intelligence is to some extent something we are born with. The closer the blood relationship between two people is, the closer they are likely to be in intelligence. Thus if we take two unrelated people at random from the population, it is likely that their degree of intelligence will be completely different. If, on the Other hand, we take two identical twins, they will very likely be as intelligent as each other. Relations like brothers and sisters, parents and children, usually have similar intelligence, and this clearly suggests that intelligence depend on birth. Imagine now that we take two identical twins and put them in different environments. We might send one, for example, to a university and the other to a factory where the work is boring. We would soon find differences in their intelligence developing, and this indicates that environment as well as birth plays a part. This conclusion is also suggested by the fact that people who live in close contact with each other, but who are not related at all are likely to have similar degree of intelligence.

People from all walks of life express great respect to our soldiers because they are the loveliest people in the world.

Procrastination (犹豫不决) is a disease of the mind. A scientific study in recent years has shown that it is a close relative of sadness and attention disorder; that procrastinators tend to be the result of low self-confidence and are likely to experience anxiety. The research has shown, what is more, that the illness has become quite common. Susan Robert, a behavioral psychologist who has written a book called Living With Procrastination, says that about a quarter of the adult population of the United States and Canada is reported to have serious problems with procrastination. 'when we say 'serious' we mean people for whom procrastination causes great discomfort and suffering. We've found that such people are more troubled by daily life than others, that possibility of anxiety is much higher among them than in the rest of the population.' In a society driven by achievement, it is little wonder that not being able to work at full steam will bring people sadness. Surely, in the land of opportunity, this anxiety has produced an industry of experts offering solutions. Many books and specialist solutions have appeared. In exchange for $19.95, Dr. Jerome Murray will send out an audio-cassette called 'Protect your future from the thief of procrastination.' Dr. Murray promises that if you follow his step-by-step rules you will be empowered to 'turn self-defeat into self-realization'. 'Since the start of the 1990s, procrastination has been taken more and more seriously,' said Dr. Roberts, who has been treating patients troubled by the condition for more than 20 years. 'It is now recognized as a true mental health problem and is being seen more as a psychological problem and less as a moral issue.'

With the coming of the Internet, online communities have figured out a way to generate profit from the sharing of those underused property. Using websites and social media groups that facilitate the buying and selling of second-hand goods, it is now easier than ever for peer-to-peer sharing activities to take place. And this is known as the sharing economy. These popular online platforms are providing a chance for people to make a quick fortune. To give an example, busy parents previously might not have bothered with setting up a stall at the local market to sell their children's old equipment, but with online marketplaces, parents are now able to sell on those hardly worn baby clothes that their children have outgrown so as to put some cash back into their pockets. Businesses have also caught on to the profitability of the sharing economy and are seeking to gain from making use of those underutilized resources. Companies like Airbnb act as a middleman for people to cash in on their unused rooms and houses and let them out as profitable accommodation. Another example is Uber, which encourages people to use their own personal cars as taxis to make some extra cash in their free time. This move towards a sharing economy is not without criticisms. Unlike businesses, unregulated individuals do not have to follow certain regulations and this can lead to poorer and inconsistent quality of goods and services and a higher risk of fraud. Nevertheless, in the consumerist society we live in today, the increased opportunities to sell on our unwanted and underused goods can lead to a lesser impact on our environment.

'If you want to see a thing well, reach out (伸出手) and touch it!' That may seem a strange thing to say. But touching things can help you to see them better. Your eyes can tell you that a glass ball is round. But by holding it in your hands, you can feel how smooth (光滑) and cool the ball is. You can feel how heavy the glass is. When you feel all these about the ball, you really see it. With your skin, you can feel better. For example, your fingers can tell the difference between two coins in your pocket. You can feel a little drop of water on the back of your hand, too. All children soon learn what 'Don't touch!' means. They hear it often. Yet most of us keep on touching things as we grow up. In shops, we touch things as we might buy: food, clothes. To see something well, we have to touch it. There are ways of learning to see well by feeling. One way is to close your eyes and try to feel everything that is touching your skin. Feel the shoes on your feet, the clothes on your body, the air on your skin. At first, it is not easy to feel these things. You are too used to (习惯于) them! Most museums are just for looking. But today some museums have some things to touch. Their signs say, 'Do touch!' There you can feel everything on show. If we want to see better, reach out and touch. Then you will really see!